


I'm New In Town

by Skeleton_Keyes



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Character Death, Eventual Romance, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pining, Sad, Science Boyfriends, Secret Crush, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21748843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeleton_Keyes/pseuds/Skeleton_Keyes
Summary: Bruce Banner is a new professor at Vindica University. One his first day, he assumes he's going to sit all alone in the teachers lounge. But soon enough he makes an unlikely friend in the much more popular and outgoing Tony Stark.For reference these are the teachers and what they teach:Tony: Engineering/RoboticsBruce: BiochemistrySteve: American HistoryBucky Barnes: LanguageThor (aka Blake Odinson): Ancient HistoryClint Barton: Criminal JusticeNatasha Romanoff: ActingScott Lang: Assistant to HankHank Pym: Quantum PhysicsPeter Parker: StudentJames Rhodes:AerodynamicsNick Fury: Dean of Students
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Tony Stark/Bruce Banner
Kudos: 21





	1. The first day

Gaggles of newcomers and returning students alike flooded the stone walkway leading to the large brick central building of the university. Bruce Banner sat in his car in his Teachers Parking Spot, trying to work up the courage to get out. Today was his first day on the job, he didn’t know what to expect. He’d never worked at a school this big before. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them he nodded to himself, assuring that he definitely could do this. He grabbed his leather briefcase from the passenger seat beside him and opened his car door. It squeaks loudly, and he was suddenly very aware of just how loud it was. He glanced around nervously, hoping no one was staring. When he was confident that he wasn’t being watched he started towards the front gates. He did his best to stand up straight and walk confidently, but he couldn’t help but feel like he stuck out. On the plus side, he already knew where his classroom was, so he didn’t have to worry.

Bruce collapsed into his chair in front of his desk. His first 3 classes had gone surprisingly well. But now for a new challenge, one of a completely different magnitude: the teachers lounge. Now with students it’s easy to blow of their looks and potential comments, after all, you’re in charge and you have several PHDs. But the other teachers? Well they’re just like you. They’re your peers.

Bruce pushed himself back far enough to access the underneath of his desk. He picked up his briefcase off the floor and just stared at it in his hands for a long time. He imagined all the interrogations he was going to receive and how much he didn’t want them. He shook his head, clearing his head and stood up. He straightened his jacket and started towards the door.

Once in the teachers lounge he found a nice table by a window in the back of the room to sit at. On the way he smiled as he passed by his colleagues, a few of them waved, and even less actually introduced themselves. He set his case down on the table and pulled out the chair, his mind already thinking of things to do to pass the time. He figured he might as well go over his notes for his next classes, just to quadruple check.

“Is this seat taken?” A charming and warm voice asked him. 

Bruce looked up to find a quite handsome face looking down at him. He was wearing black, rectangular glasses. He wore a sport coat with a t-shirt of a robot underneath. His khakis were wrinkled and his shoes scuffed. But his smile was absolutely radiant. 

He blinked, quickly trying to remember how to interact with another human being. “Oh um no, it’s not. Go right ahead.” He gestured to the empty seat in front of him. He awkwardly sat down and scooted his chair towards the table. 

“Thanks.” The stranger plopped down and set a sleek looking case on the table. He took out what looked like a BLT and took a bite. “So, you look new.” He waved a hand, looking him up and down, his mouth stuffed with food.

Bruce felt his cheeks warm, was it that obvious? “Uh yeah, I teach biochemistry.” He said, looking down at his own lunch. Remembering that he probably should eat.

“Well, Mr Biochemistry, you got a name?” The stranger asked, swallowing his food and going for another abnormally large bite.

“Oh right, yes I’m Bruce Banner, it’s nice to meet you uhh..” he held out his hand but trailed off, now knowing if he got his name and missed it or if he just hadn’t remembered to ask. 

“Stark, Tony Stark. I’m the engineering professor.” He grasped his hand firmly and gave it a few small shakes. “And the pleasures all mine.” He gave him a playful grin. “Whatcha eatin?”

Bruce looked down, his brain foggy. “Um just a salad.” He let go of Tony’s hand and let it rest on the table. “You?” 

“BLT, every single day.” He nodded to himself. “Just a salad huh, you some kinda health nut?” 

Bruce shook his head. “No no, I’m a vegetarian. Once you learn enough about the biology of animals you start to feel bad for eating them.” He shrugged slightly, popping off the lid of his Tupperware container.

“Hm, yeah I guess if people were eating robots I’d probably opt out on that one.” Tony chuckled, his noses scrunching up as he laughed. 

Bruce blinked, why was someone this attractive choosing to spend his time sitting with the new guy? He quickly tore his eyes away so he wouldn’t be caught staring. “So um, what kind of robots do you make?” He picked up his plastic fork and started poking at his salad. 

Tony leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. “Well for class it’s just the basics. You know, making machines to do basic tasks. But I am working on some super secret stuff.” He smirked, his eyebrow raising as he eyes lowered down to meet Bruce’s gaze.

“Secret? Like what kind of secret? Like dangerous secret??”

“Hey hey we’re keeping this hush hush you get what I mean?” Tony leaner forward, setting down his sandwich and wiping off his hands.  
“Well, lets just say.. they’re weapons. They’re for defense.. it’s armor.” A devilish smile was plastered on his face, a fire behind his eyes. 

Bruce was curious, but also afraid. There was a strange reckless energy about him that he was just fascinated by. “Oh right sorry..so what do you want this armor to do? In my experience the armor isn’t the weapon.” He stabbed a baby tomato and popped it in his mouth. 

Tony made a quick glance around the room to check and see if anyone was listening. He scooted closer in his chair and pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom of his open briefcase. A blueprint for what looked like some sort of robot emerged. Tony slid it forward and pointed. “I want it to be able to fly, shoot, have artificial intelligence, increase your strength, targeting system, anything you could think of.” 

Bruce noticed that as he spoke, his eyes seemed to light up. He scanned the blueprint, checking the math as best he could. 

“This…wow…this is brilliant Professor Stark.” He looked up at him with wide eyes, even more fascinated than he was before. 

“Thanks! And hey, my friends call me Tony.” He winked, snatching the paper and placing it back in its hiding spot in his case. 

“So does that make us...friends?” Bruce couldn’t help but smile, his first day and he already had a teacher friend.

“Of course it does buddy!” His new friend reached over and patted his shoulder. “I wouldn’t show this to just anyone, and I had a good feeling about you. You’re smart, I can tell. And not like these yahoos.” He gestured toward the group of other teachers happily chatting amongst themselves. “You’re not just intelligent, you actually think. You use that intelligence and you make something out of it.” He flashed a big smile. “I could tell because you’re like me.”

“Me? Like you?” Banner snorted. “I’m sorry Mr. Stark but I’m in now way like you. You’re well…” he gestured to his body and his face and his briefcase. “You’re you.” 

“Yeah, and you’re you. You say that like it’s a bad thing Bruce. You may be a little shy, but I like you. You’re a good one I can tell.” He glanced down at his watch and a frown made its way on his face.

“What? What’s wrong?” 

“Lunch breaks over, back to it I guess.” Tony closed his case and stood up, his hand outstretched. “It was a pleasure to meet you Professor Banner.” 

Bruce stood up to meet him and excitedly accepted his handshake. “The pleasures all mine, Tony.” 

Tony smiled at him while he turned away and strode towards the door. On the way out several teachers stopped him to say hello. Pretty soon there was a small group near the door and Tony had to skirt around them just to get out. Then it hit him.

He was popular.

A popular person had talked to him.

A popular person talked to him.


	2. Chapter 2: Secret Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has invited Bruce over for a bit of pizza! The night ends up going well, at least to start, and Bruce is let it on quite a few secrets.

Bruce sat on a shiny leather couch, drumming his fingers nervously on his legs. He scanned the room, noting how nice it was. The large flatscreen tv, the soft carpeting, the beautiful pieces of art, and the thing that caught his eyes the most was the vintage looking record player in the corner of the room. He heard the faint voice of Tony making small talk with the pizza delivery person down the hall, he couldn’t help but smile a little to himself. 

After a few minutes he heard faint footsteps getting closer and closer. “I’ve returned, with gifts.” that signature charming voice said from around the corner, and soon that signature charming smile followed not too far behind it. Tony held up two boxes of pizza in one hand, and a 2 liter of soda in the other. He set them down on the coffee table in front of him and wiped his hands on his khakis. “The remote is right next to you if you want to turn something on, I’m gonna go get us some paper plates and change out of my work clothes.” he jerked his head to the side to point to the tv remote on the table next to the couch before he turned around and disappeared down another hallway.

Bruce shouldered off his jacket and loosened his tie, taking a deep breath to try and hype himself up. He was trying not to think about the fact that he hadn’t actually hung out with someone in quite a long time. He reached over for the remote and held it for a moment, blinking. It was much more advanced than anything he’d ever seen, and he wasn’t sure if that was because he never could afford a nice tv or because Tony had somehow gotten something crazy technological. 

Before he could even begin to figure it out, Tony entered the room once more, paper plates in hand. He wore a greyish blue t-shirt with some kind of circular design on the chest. He shuffled over to him and plopped down right next to him, very little space between them. He separated the plates and handed one to Bruce who took one with a quiet “Thank you.” 

Bruce looked down and noticed Tony was still wearing relatively nice pants. They weren’t suit pants or anything like that, but they were still clothes you could go out in. He wondered if that was because of him or because that’s just the way that Tony was. He shrugged it off and reached for one of the pizza boxes. “So this tv you got is really interesting.” he said, handing him the remote.

“Oh yeah I kinda made it myself.” he chuckled, taking the remote from him.

Bruce paused, turning his head to look at him. “You  _ made  _ that?” he questioned, even more impressed than before.

Tony nodded, pressing a button on the remote that triggered the tv screen to light up. “Sometimes I get bored, or my stuff doesn’t do what I want it to, so I just make new things.” he shrugged nonchalantly. 

Bruce stared at him, mouth agape. “You’re telling me..if you want your phone to do something it’s not doing, you’ll just make a new one?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yup, it’s not as hard as you think.” Tony settled on  _ I, Robot  _ and set down the remote, picking out a piece of pizza and leaning back on the couch to eat it. 

Bruce chuckled, shaking his head and reaching for a piece of pizza himself. He was finally starting to get it, this is just who Tony Stark is. He’s astonishing, and charming, and brilliant.

“So what about you, you gotta have done some stuff with your biochem background right?” Tony glanced over at him for a moment, but soon returned his eyes to the screen where he watched Will Smith in some sort of chase scene. 

“Oh yeah, I’ve actually been working on something kind of..secret. I guess a lot like you have, huh?” Bruce smiled at him, feeling like he might be on a level at least close to his new friend. “Well I actually love nuclear physics more than anything, but I qualified for the biochemistry position so I took it. But I’ve been doing a lot of research and experiments on Gamma Radiation. It’s really quite fascinating.” he took a bite of his pizza, his mind wandered to his research back at home.

“That sounds wicked cool, actually.” Tony sounded impressed, surprised even. “I guess I didn’t take you for much of a..well I don’t know, someone who actually does things, at least to that degree. Most of my colleagues just write papers or something, nothing hands on. But that sounds really amzing.”

Bruce felt his face warm up, he never received compliments like this, especially from someone he admired so much. “Thank you, that means a lot Prof-” he stopped himself, turning to look at him with a giddy smile. “Tony.” he corrected himself, feeling very proud of himself as he turned back to his pizza and continued eating.

Stark stared at him for a moment, his heart suddenly speeding up. He felt like he suddenly noticed Bruce for the first time. Like he could actually see him. 

A disembodied, british sounding voice, started speaking above them. “Mr. Stark, it appears that your heart rate as increased suddenly, would you like me to initiate Novis Protocol?”

Bruce jumped, looking up at the ceiling in horror. “What the hell is that??” he asked frantically.

“Oh that’s just Jarvis, don’t worry about him. No Jarvis, I’m fine.” Tony sighed, setting his plate down on the table, half of his pizza still on it.

“Alright Mr. Stark, but please don’t hesitate to call for me if you need me.” the voice said before falling completely silent. 

“Tony did you...is that...Is that fully Artificial Intelligence?” Bruce set down his plate as well, turning his full body to look at him, his eyes full of wonder.

“Oh yeah, I made him a while ago. He makes sure I stay alive” he let out a dry laugh, standing up to stretch. Trying to change the subject, he asked “Hey, you wanna see my secret stuff?”looking at him over his shoulder, a smirk on his face.

“I-I’d love to!” Bruce jumped up, his expression not far from a child’s in a candy store. 

“Well let’s go, follow me. And this means you gotta show me your secret stuff some time.” he winked at him, his smirk only growing. Tony lead the way to a door in the middle of the hallway that opened up to a staircase that he couldn’t quite see the bottom of. 

“Um..Tony?” Bruce paused at the top, he wasn’t that dumb.

“Oh relax, I know what this looks like.” Tony tapped his chin. “Here, I’ll go down and turn on the lights, you can follow after me okay?” he smiled, trying to reassure him.

“That sounds..better.” Bruce returned the smile, meekly. 

Tony made his way down the stairs, keeping a brisk pace. Bruce heard two claps and watched as the stairs and room below it lit up. He let out a small gasp, still more and more amazed the longer he hung out with Tony. He quickly made his way down the stairs, his worry dissolved.

When he got to the bottom, he was met with one of the most brilliant sights he’d ever seen. The walls were lined with prototypes of armor, all different colors, each one had that same circular design as the one on Tony’s shirt. In the middle of the room was a large working table covered with various blueprints and scraps of metal and wire. Tony was standing in front of one of the prototypes at the end of the line, pressing buttons on some kind of panel beside it.

Bruce was speechless, he stood there, trying to take it all in. He studied each suit as carefully as he could, trying to etch every detail in his mind as he was sure he wouldn’t even see anything more astonishing.

“Welcome to my lab!” Tony held out his hands, gesturing around the room, he had a pridful grin on his face.

“Hey, wanna see something cool?” Tony asked, his back still turned to him. When Bruce didn’t answer, however, he turned to face him, laughing a bit at the expression on his friends face.

“Most people tend to look like that, although I’ve only showed this place to 3 other people.” he turned back to his suit, a satisfied grin on his face.

“Tony this is..this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. You did all this?” Bruce walked up to one of the suits to look at it more closely, his fingers brushing the smooth metal plates.

“Yup, mostly on weekends.” 

Bruce heard a metal clanking coming from across the room, and looked over to see Tony, grinning like an idiot, inside one of his suits. Bruce’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god.” was all he managed to get out before the face plate flipped down and he was fully submerged in the suit. 

“Tony, what are you doing? Is that safe?” Bruce took a step back from him, unsure of what was going to happen. 

“Mhm! I’ve tested it a million times, pretty much. It’s not perfect, but it’s functioning.” a high pitched whine sounded from the armor and the circle on his chest lit up, Bruce thought that it might be some kind of power source. Tony pointed his palms towards towards the ground, there appeared to be similar circles on his hands too, because soon his they were glowing.

Smoke started to form near his feet and gathered all around him. Bruce was worried, but the smoke was thin enough, and Tony seemed to know what he was doing. He held his breath, waiting for his next move. 

Fire burst from his palms and he started to float upwards. Bruce jumped backwards, startled. Slowly, but steadily, he moved closer and closer to the ceiling. Bruce was drawn in by curiosity and was able to see that fire was also coming out of his feet too. He let out his breath, his mouth stuck open, unable to blink. “Holy mother of..” he muttered, eyes trained on Tony as he slowly made his way back to the ground.

When he finally landed with a clunk, the smoke began to clear. The face plate flipped up and Bruce was greeted by a beaming Tony, his forehead beaded with sweat. “So? What’d you think? I know it’s not much, but it’s a start!” he awkwardly stumped back over to its place along the wall and turned to face him. It opened all the way down the front and Tony gracefully stepped out, the suit closing behind him.

“That’s..I’m..I’m speechless Tony. You’re a genius. That was the most amazing and brilliant and..there’s not words to describe how absolutely incredible that was.” Bruce grinned at him. “I know we only met today but..I’m really proud of you Tony, you’ve done some amazing work..”

Tony walked up to him, softly placing his hand on his friend's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “You have no idea how much that means to me, man.” he gave him a somewhat sad smile, his eyes gentle.

“It’s no problem, Tony, you really deserve it.” he smiled back at him, but was unsure of what to do next. His eyes fell on a picture frame on the work table, it appeared to be Tony, some other strange looking man, and two men he recognized as Professor Rogers and Professor Barnes. “Who’s that with you?” Bruce pointed at the picture and strode over towards it, picking it up to study it closer. 

“Oh that’s um..no one.” Tony’s voice became uncharacteristically quiet.

“You sure? He looks like a friend of yours, who is he?”

Tony tried to make up some story about him to avoid the subject, but luckily he was saved by his trusty A.I butler, Jarvis. 

“Sir, you have guests at the front door. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes are here and they have brought a bottle of very fine wine.” Jarvis informed them.

“Thank you Jarvis, let them know I’ll be right there.” he let out a sigh of relief. “Alright Bruce, lets head back upstairs, you should meet these guys, they’re two of my best friends.” he smiled, but his eyes were still fixed on the picture in Bruce’s hands.

“Oh, sounds good.” he gently set it back down, an unsettling feeling finding its home in his chest. He felt like he had stirred something up that he probably shouldn’t have. 

Together they made there way back upstairs to the living room. Tony told Bruce to go sit back on the couch while he greeted his guests. Bruce obliged and tried to make himself as comfortable as he could, but he was just as nervous as he was when he first got here.

Not before long, Tony returned with two more men. One of them was blonde, his arms stretching out the tight button up he had on. His hair was neatly kept, his face clean shaven. His blue eyes had a kind look about them, his hands held a bottle of wine. The man next to him had long, shaggy, brown hair. Half of it was tied up in a bun that sat messily on top of his head. His pale blue eyes were lidded, dark bags underneath them. 

Bruce stood up, his hand outstretched. “It’s really nice to meet you, I’m Bruce Banner.” he put on his best, ‘I swear I’m a nice and cool person’ smile as he shook their hands. 

“Hey man, it’s nice to meet you too. I’m James, but most people call me Bucky, this is my husband Steve.” he grinned, looking over at him. “I’m still not used to that.” he laughed a little bit.

“Me neither.” Steve smiled back at him. “And yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. You seem nice. And Tony needs more friends in similar fields to him.” he handed Tony the bottle of wine.

“You mean nerd friends?” Buckly snickered before his laughter was stifled by a swift jab in the side delivered by Steve. “Ow-”

“Be nice Bucky, you need more friends too you know.” he gave his a sarcastic smirk, walking over to the couch and plopping down. “So what have you two been up to?” Steve asked, helping himself to the pizza on the table.

“Oh nothing much, just talking, and..Um he showed me some of his work.” he said, carefully. 

Steve paused and looked up at Bucky who was looking right back at him, they seemed to communicate something to each other without saying a word. “What kind of work?” 

“Oh, just something new he’s been working on.” he chuckled, not really sure how he could describe it while still keeping Tony’s secret. 

Tony entered the room, cutting of their conversation, four wine glasses and the bottle of wine on a tray in his hands. He set them down next to the pizza and picked up his wine glass. “I propose a toast!” he said, a huge grin on his face. “To new friends!” He said cheerfully.

The grabbed their glasses and raised them in the air, the previous tension fading away. “To new friends!” they all said before taking a deep sip of their wine.

  
  


* * *

One bottle of wine later, the three were extremely beat, and pretty drunk. Steve and Bucky were sitting in an armchair together, Bucky in Steve’s Lap. Tony stood up to return the glasses to the kitchen and Bruce took this opportunity to try and get some information out of his friends.

“So, can I ask you guys something?” he asked, trying to keep his voice low.

Steve lazily turned his face to look at him. “Oh, sure if you want.” he shrugged.

“So we were in the basement earlier, and I saw this picture of you two, and him, and some..some other guy. I asked him about who it was but he seemed really weird about it. Do you know who he is?” he asked, scooting closer to them.

Steve and Bucky traded a look, Bucky simply shook his head. Steve pursed his lips and let out a sigh. “I mean..he should probably know, it’s only right I suppose.” Steve shifted a little, refusing to look at Bruce.

“That’s Stephen, he’s Tony’s..well not ex because they didn’t break up. But they were together, for a long time.” Steve’s face grew sad as he took a sharp breath. “A few years ago, he was in a car wreck pretty bad..he couldn’t use his hands at all and he fell into a depression. Last year..last year he killed himself.” Steve fell silent, pressing his eyes shut tightly.

“Oh my god..I didn’t..I’m so sorry” Bruce was at a loss for words, guilt rising up inside him. The look on Tony’s face flashed in his head, and it really hit him what he must have been feeling.

“No no, it’s okay, you didn’t know.” Steve slouched a little and turned to look at him. “But there’s something else you should know..”

“What? What is it?” Bruce asked softly, avoiding his gaze.

“Well that job you took opened up just recently didn’t it?” 

“Yeah, why?” Bruce looked back up at him, confused. He was met with one of the most heartbreaking expressions he’d ever seen. 

“That’s because Stephen was the old biochemistry professor..”

  
  
  



	3. Haunting Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You may try to move on, but the past always catches up. Sometimes it's an event, sometimes it's a person.
> 
> Bruce and Tony both have pasts that come back to haunt them in one way or another.

A small puff of fog escaped from his mouth as Bruce stepped out onto the porch of Tony’s house. He looked over his shoulder and flashed a small smile before he trudged to his car. He opened the door, tossed his coat and briefcase on the passenger seat, and plopped down inside. He slammed his door and put his face in his hands, his face heating up like a screeching kettle. He felt the shame and guilt well up in his chest. He clutched the front of his hair and tugged on it, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“What the  _ hell  _ were you thinking, Bruce? The first time you ever hang out with this guy and you ask about his dead husband.  _ And  _ you have his fucking job.” he lowered his hands in his lap, his gaze locked on them. “Wait a second..” he whispered, and suddenly it hit him. Tony only befriended him because he was the new biochemistry teacher. Why did it take so long to find a replacement? Did Tony have something to do with it? 

He rubbed a hand down his face and let out a sigh, his breath creating fog around his face. He fished the keys out of his pocket and jammed them into the ignition. He backed up out of the driveway, sped down the road, and back home. The whole time, his mind raced with about a billion questions. 

The next day, Bruce pulled into the parking lot, parked his car, and walked to his classroom as quickly as he could. He avoided everyone, especially Tony. But now it was time for what he had been dreading the most, lunch time. 

Part of him wanted to just stay in his classroom to eat, but he knew that Tony would either look for him, or ask him about it at the end of the day. He wasn’t sure what to do. He finally felt like he was making a new friend, someone he could trust. He didn’t have anyone after she left him. She took all his friends, well they weren’t real friends, were they. He gripped his suitcase tight, the worn leather scratching at his palm. 

He puffed up his chest and strode to the teacher’s lounge, keeping his eyes straight forward as he walked. He walked passed his colleagues and set up shop at the back of the room, pulling his lunch out and opening his various things of tupperware. He also pulled out some of his research notes and spread them out on the table, tucking a pen behind his ear. Hopefully this way Tony might see that he’s busy and leave him be.

Well clearly, Bruce doesn’t know Tony that well.

The wooden chair scraped along the floor as Tony seated himself across from Bruce just like the previous day. “Hey man, what’s going on?” he asked, unpacking his own lunch.

Bruce shrugged, not taking his eyes of his notes, scanning them over with his eyes but not taking in a single word. There was no way he’d be able to focus with Tony sitting right there.

“You good?” he asked, his eyebrow raising in suspicion. 

“Yeah, fine.” Bruce mumbled, pretending to make some sort of note with his pen.

“Dude, what’s the matter with you?” Tony closed the lid on his case and slid it to the side of the table.

“Nothing, I’ve just got some really important work to do.” he glared at him and jabbed his pen towards his papers.

“Fine, I’ll leave you to it then.” Tony pushed himself backwards, snatching his case up and turning to walk to the other table with the rest of the teachers. He hesitated, looking over his shoulder at Bruce, who continued scribbling on his notes. His eyes fell, he made his way over and quietly ate his lunch. 

Bruce felt awful, but he didn’t know what to do or what to say. ‘Hey, are you only friends with me because of your dead husband? Hey why do you feel like you can trust me? Is it because I took your husbands job who committed suicide?’ There just isn’t a way to bring it up. And besides, he didn’t know why it mattered. Maybe it’s best not to have friends at all. 

He lowered his pen, glancing over at Tony who sat at the table with the rest of the professors telling all kinds of extravagant stories, though his expressions seemed empty. Every smile he flashed, every bark of laughter. It was all fake, he really just wanted to be alone right now, but I guess that’s the burden of being charming, isn’t it?

Bruce packed up his lunch and his notes back in his case, his appetite lost. Solemnly, he trudged out of the room back to his classroom where he sat at his desk, his forehead pressed against the cold wood. 

  
  
  
  


He had been avoiding Tony all week, eating lunch in his classroom, making sure to wait till he left after school. He accepted that this would just be the routine from now on, he really didn’t want to talk to Tony at all anymore. Not after what he had found out.

“Make sure you read chapter 2 by tomorrow please! Have a nice rest of your day!” Bruce called after his students who were gathered at the door, funneling out of the classroom.

“You too Professor Banner.” one of his students, Peter Parker, if he remembered correctly, smiled with a wave as he walked out.

“Thank you Mr. Parker.” he smiled back, easing some of his exhaustion and guilt from the events of the week.

He sat down at his deck and pulled up his email on the computer, hoping to check everything he needed as fast as he could so that he could book it to his car. 

Clearly, he doesn’t know Tony that well.

“Do you wanna tell me what’s going on with you?” 

Bruce looked over the top of his computer to find a very exasperated Tony with his hands on his hips.

“Oh Tony..It’s really nothing.” Bruce hated confrontation like this.

“It’s not ‘really nothing’ is it though?” Tony took a step closer, raising an eyebrow once more. “I’ve been looking for you all week, I never see you in the teachers lounge, and everytime I come here after school you’re gone. Today my lesson got out early though, so I finally caught you.”

“I’m just busy, that’s all. I’ve got pressing research at home so I had to leave quickly.” he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Why do you keep lying to me? I’m not an idiot.” he growled, narrowing his eyes. 

“We’ve known each other for like two days, why does it matter? It’s not like we’re friends or anything.” he spat back, narrowing his own eyes in return.

“Wow..” Tony deflated, letting his arms fall to his sides. “Well..I guess I just thought..”

Bruce turned back to his computer and began typing out a response to a business email. He pressed his lips into a fine line, doing his best not to respond to him and just let him leave the room.

“Well I guess see you later then. Sorry I thought..I thought we were friends, but it’s fine.” his head down, his shoulders slumped, he trudged to the doorway. He stopped in the frame and turned to look over his shoulder. “Bruce..?” he asked softly.

“Hm?” Bruce looked up over his glasses at him, an eyebrow raised. 

“Can you tell me  _ why  _ we aren’t friends?”

“Well you clearly only talked to be because of Stephen.” he shrugged, matter-of-factly.

The color in Tony's face drained like a boat that sprung a leak. “How did you-” he turned to face him once more.

“Steve and Bucky told me. I know I took his position. Is there a reason that it took so long to find someone? Was it the school? Was it you?” Bruce narrowed his eyes, a sudden rage he had never felt before ignited in his chest.

“What exactly are you implying??” Tony’s face grew bright red and he stomped over to his desk, slamming his hands down in front of him.

“It looks to me like they  _ tried  _ to replace him, but you kept driving them out. Am I correct in assuming that?” he hissed standing up to meet him. 

“What the  _ fuck  _ are you trying to say!?” 

“You know exactly what I’m trying to say. You wanted to get to know me so you could get me to resign. I’ve spoken to my students who said that every other professor they had after Stephen quit. And it’s not that hard to put two and two together.”

Tony backed away from him, not being able to meet his fiery gaze. He wrapped his arms around himself, his face beet red. “I thought you were different, Bruce. I’ll leave you alone from now on, good luck with life.” he walked out of the room like a puppy with its tail between its legs without another word. 

Bruce sighed and fell into his chair. He didn’t mean for it to go that far, he didn’t mean to yell at him like that. This anger had been more intense and more frequent lately, and it was starting to scare him. It was starting to ruin his friendships, the few that he had, or were starting to form. 

Now he was back to square one, he ruined the only chance he had.

He pressed his forehead to the cold wooden desk and slipped off his glasses, squeezing his eyes just. “Goddammit, Natasha..” he whispered, the back of his eyes burning. “Still won’t let me have friends, huh.” he let out a shaky breath, raising his head slightly and letting it fall back to the table with a thunk. He repeated this over and over, fighting back tears, till he had a patchy red mark on his head. 

He sat up and put his glasses back on with a sniffle. He shook his head and pulled out his phone to check his appearance. 

He swore under his breath, realizing he’d have to wait a few minutes to let the redness dissipate.

He gathered his papers, scrolled through his email, skimming everything but not comprehending a word. 

He tried to ignore the faint whispering ringing in his head. 

_ “You can’t trust anyone but me, Bruce. They always want something more, always. There’s always an ulterior motive, you just have to find it. I don’t want you to get hurt, so it’s best if you just stay with me, you can trust me.” _

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.” he whispered to himself, gently hitting himself on the face.

“Fuck it.” he stood up, grabbed his case, turned off his computer, and scurried out of the room, praying that he could just get to his car without any further hiccups.

He slipped in his car, put his keys in the ignition, turned his radio almost all the way up, and sped the whole way home.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought and what I should do for the next chapter!!
> 
> And don't forget to check out my tumblr keys-to-writing.tumblr.com !!


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